The earth, and even life on it, will, I’m confident, outlive our petty desires for money and being the king of the hill. Scientists are getting tantalizingly close to demonstrating something that many of us already know—life exists elsewhere. Chemical signatures of life appear as close as Venus and as far as K2-18b. I suspect our universe is full of life. And life is more than just rationality. We’re creatures driven to survive and that level of will appears to be universal. As Ian Malcolm says, “Life will find a way,” or something similar. Earth Day should be a celebration but under too many Republican presidents it has become a plea to please stop intentionally harming our planet. I grew up in that distorted religion known as Fundamentalism. I learned that the destruction of the world was necessary to force God’s hand with the second coming. The planet was here to exploit and waste since he’ll be back any day now.
Unlike many of my cohort, I decided to learn more about that perspective. The more I learned the more shocked I became. A warped and twisted message had been passed along as Gospel truth, and that the care the creator bestowed upon creation was merely a smokescreen to hide Jesus’ return. I still believe we are not capable of completely destroying the planet. Life will continue with or without us. Life is persistent and hopeful. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take care of it. Earth Day has become a rallying point for those who see the world sensibly. We have so much wonderful life on this planet. In our arrogance and in our tendency to take mythology literally, we have assumed the worst. Why not take care of what we were given? Jesus may not come back, but perhaps the Lorax will.
There are ways to live sustainably on this planet. It does mean that some of the richest will need to surrender some of their wealth and power. We need to learn the habits of requiring less and appreciating more what we have. Like most people born into the world in this era, I struggle against the desire for new things. Novelty is natural to such curious creatures as ourselves. But there are other such curious creatures too. They have a place here, even as those which seem to have no curiosity do. It’s a planet big enough for all of us. We just need to be sensible about it. And remember the earth today and be thankful for our home every day.
Image credit: NASA/ISS Expedition 28, public domain from Wikimedia Commons
" data-orig-size="800,532" data-image-title="800px-Space_Shuttle_Atlantis_in_the_sky_on_July_21,_2011,_to_its_final_landing" data-orig-file="https://steveawiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/800px-Space_Shuttle_Atlantis_in_the_sky_on_July_21_2011_to_its_final_landing.jpg" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" width="800" data-medium-file="https://steveawiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/800px-Space_Shuttle_Atlantis_in_the_sky_on_July_21_2011_to_its_final_landing.jpg?w=300" data-permalink="https://steveawiggins.com/2019/01/03/reentry/800px-space_shuttle_atlantis_in_the_sky_on_july_21_2011_to_its_final_landing/#main" alt="" height="532" class="wp-image-13542" data-large-file="https://steveawiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/800px-Space_Shuttle_Atlantis_in_the_sky_on_July_21_2011_to_its_final_landing.jpg?w=800" />Image credit: NASA/ISS Expedition 28, public domain from Wikimedia Commons
